HGF and rheumatoid arthritis: Shibasaki et al. showed that HGF and c-Met expression was elevated in RA synovium and that HGF stimulated MH7A cells (a human RA synovial cell line) to a tumor-like phenotype with elevated production of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) [31].